


Family Shouldn't Hurt

by QueenoftheHobbits



Series: Soft Thighs Series [36]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, does have depictions on sibling abuse, nasty siblings, overweight reader, plus size reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:18:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7775839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenoftheHobbits/pseuds/QueenoftheHobbits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your brother hasn’t changed much, but Bucky’s there this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Shouldn't Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> Suggested by anon on tumblr

Growing up you’d wanted to love your brother you really had, you wanted to look up to him, to be accepted by him, to have a close relationship with him...but that wasn’t what you got and you found it increasingly hard as you grew up and as your size became larger, to love him, to be friends with him, to even consider him a proper brother. All because he couldn’t stop hurting you, not physically, but emotionally...names, words, phrases. _’Fatty’_ or _‘You really think you’re okay to do that at your weight?’_ or _‘Why would anyone ask Y/N to prom anyway?’_ Constant berating, constant mocking, constant, constant, constant. He never treated you like family, like a little sister, and so he stopped being a brother and you stopped trying to make him like you.

The moment you’d gotten away from your brother and lived your own life was perhaps the best you’d ever had, it was freedom from the constant nasty comments and emotional upset...it let you grow to like yourself and your body because he wasn’t around and it let you meet amazing people and let you understand that it was bad that your brother treated you like that, that it was wrong. That didn’t make it easy when you did have to see him again.

You always saw him for family get-togethers, your family were generally fine except for him, and except for the fact they never defended you. Well, your cousin did, but she was rarely at the get-togethers because of work commitments so you were often left alone to deal with the abuse by yourself. Until Bucky hadn’t had any plans for Christmas dinner.

Had it been anyone else you probably would have left them alone to spend Christmas doing whatever they wanted, but it wasn’t, it was Bucky and he was always so quiet and lonely and you wanted to include him in something. You hadn’t really been thinking about your brother and what that might mean when you phoned your parents and asked if Bucky could come along. You’d only been thinking about how sad and horrible it would be for Bucky to be alone at the tower for his first proper Christmas since no long being on the run or being under Hydra. That and how much you actually liked spending time with the handsome man. 

Everyone, even your brother, seemed to be perfectly hospitable to Bucky, the tale you’d spun wasn’t far from the truth; that he was a Veteran, he’d seen a lot of pain, and that he’d lost his arm in the line of duty. Bucky’s real and whole story wasn’t yours to tell. With Bucky there it almost seemed like your brother wasn’t going to say or do anything...but that was wishful thinking wasn’t it? Really, hoping that he wouldn’t revert to his usual treatment of you was just foolish...thinking that Bucky being there might change something was foolish. 

“So, Fatty, how come you know a war vet?” Perhaps had it been a friendly nickname it wouldn’t have seemed so bad, but it wasn’t. It was never used in jest, it was always used to demean you and there was more to it than just the name calling, there was the underlying question ‘why would someone like _him_ ever be friends with or want to spent time with someone like _you_ ’ and it didn’t go unnoticed by you, by Bucky, or by the rest of your family.

“I-”

“What did you just say?” Bucky’s hand rested on your shoulder as he interrupted you to question your brother. His brow was furrowed, and his jaw was clenched and had he not been trying to control just how angry he was it might well have been terrifying. It wasn’t really a question though, it was more asking for confirmation that he’d really just said that, that he’d really just asked that...

You sat back, shifting uncomfortable in your chair, hands resting on your thick thighs and eyes shifting between your brother who had a confused smile as if he couldn’t believe someone had questioned him on his face and Bucky who looked like he might jump across the table at any minute. 

“What? The name? Fatty? I’ve got about 50 others too, don’t I, Y/N?” You felt uncomfortable under your brother’s malicious gaze, with the memories of all the things he’d ever said to you in your head. You saw Bucky stand from his chair. You watched him lean on the table, the metal of his hand gleaming in a way that was downright menacing to the wrong person. 

“Say it again, ever, and you won’t be able to eat for a month.” As threats go it was tame for Bucky, he liked most of your family he didn’t want to upset your parents, but he also wasn’t just going to stand by and have your brother demean you. Have him use something that was perfectly okay and arguably great about you as an insult. He liked your weight, he liked that you were for the most part comfortable with it, he liked that you were comfortable to hold even though he rarely had the opportunity to do that. He liked you and any reference to your weight as if it was unacceptable or bad was not something he was going to stand by and deal with. 

“Son...” Your dad started obviously wanting to avoid confrontation as he directed the term at Bucky and not your brother. An attempt to placate the large man. 

“No. Don’t patronise me and don’t talk to me like that if you’re going to stand by while your son insults your daughter. While he tries to hurt her. Family shouldn’t hurt each other and i’m not going to stand by and watch that happen.” Bucky hissed and to be honest he didn’t care if your dad hated him, not if he was just going to let this happen...you never deserved this and you never needed this and it felt like...like a stab in the gut for him to realise that not only was your brother a piece of shit to you, but the rest of your family weren’t even there for you. That you had to deal with this, that this was what made you frown when you came back to the tower after visiting them all those times before. That this was avoidable and yet had been happening for years. 

“Why do you even care? She’s not important.” You shifted your jaw, looking down at your lap, but having to look away because you saw what he wanted you to see in that moment. Saw negatives about the fold in your stomach, the size of your thighs and you hated that your confidence could be torn down by your brother every time and every time you were forced to rebuild it only to have it torn down again. 

“Y/N, come on...we’re going home.” Bucky held his hand out for you, palm up waiting for you to take it and leave with him. He wasn’t going to be able to listen to this for much longer. 

“Buck...” You shifted your gaze around the family table...you knew they’d hate it if you left on Christmas day...but you also knew that Bucky was right. You didn’t deserve this, you didn’t deserve to listen to this. You deserved to spend time with people who cared and didn’t hurt. 

“If we stay here...someone’s going to end up in hospital and it’s not going to be me, so c’mon, doll...” Part of you almost wanted Bucky to fight your brother but you knew that wasn’t good for anyone, least of all Bucky himself. He didn’t need that on his conscience, he didn’t need more to feel bad about and he didn’t need to fight to mean something to you. He’d already done more for you than most of your family had. 

You took his hand, turning back to your brother before you left. “I am important, I save people every day. I have done more in my life than you ever have...and if you can’t see that then you’re not my brother. You’re just another asshole.” You’d never stood up to him before, but holding Buck’s hand and having him stand by you gave you this confidence boost to actually say what you’d never been able to. You weren’t just telling him, you were also telling yourself. Confirming that you didn’t deserve any of this. 

The ride back home was quiet, neither of you spoke. You spent it turning over the dinner in your head, the way your dad would rather ignore your brother in favour of not causing a fight, the way Bucky, normally quiet and reserved Bucky, stood up for you and wasn’t ready to deal with any of it, the fact you’d finally stood up for yourself, the fact that Bucky was right. Family didn’t and shouldn’t hurt and if it did was it worth seeing them? The answer was probably a resounding no. 

“C’mon, doll.” You followed Bucky in the empty tower, everyone else was off doing personal Christmas things except the two of you. He had you sit on the sofa and pick a film, trailing back in from the kitchen with warm mugs and a pair of stolen cookies that belonged to Sam. 

“Thank you, for standing up for me tonight...and for making me realise that I didn’t have to deal with any of that bullshit...” The movie playing in the background was some terribly cheesy Christmas movie, but that didn’t matter, what mattered was you and Bucky and the fact that this impossibly wonderful man had done more for you in one night than most people had done in years. 

“You don’t have to thank me...I...I was angry, really angry...” He was angry to the point he wasn’t sure if he did it for you or for himself...how anyone could think you weren’t important, weren’t worth respect simply because you were overweight he didn’t understand. You gained his respect the moment you smiled at him during your first meeting, you earned your importance the moment you made him laugh for the first, you were worth so much and he couldn’t understand how family had done that to you. 

“I’d probably be angry too if it was the other way around...although i’d probably actually punch them..” You couldn’t imagine what you’d do if someone treated Bucky the way your brother treated you...it was odd wasn’t it? How much you would put up with when it was directed at you, but how little you would when it was directed at someone else. 

“You’d have liked my family, they were good..nice...I...”

“You miss ‘em?” You couldn’t imagine how it felt for Bucky to one minute have family and the next have no one. To be 70 years away from when they were around, to never see them again, never hold them, or talk to them. But maybe that’s where you needed to help him make more family, not to replace, but simply to help him feel connected and not so alone. 

“Every day since I remembered them.”

“Well, we’re family now...i’m always going to be here, so Merry Christmas, yeah?” You leant against his side, mug warm in your hands and head against his shoulder. You were going to make an effort to be there for Bucky more, to become someone else he could rely on. Not just because he needed someone, not just because you did too, but because you wanted to. 

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.” 


End file.
